Two Philly Boxing Events This Weekend Friday & Saturday!
By: Ken Hissner
There have only been 3 events in Pennsylvania this year and 2 of them were in Philly and sub-par shows. This weekend the two top promoters bring shows in Peltz Boxing and Kings Promotions.
On Friday at the 2300 Arena in South Philly J Russell Peltz brings in what he does best in Philly vs Philly on top! Underneath he will have 10 more fights which is quite unusual for Peltz.
In the main event lightweight Anthony “Bad Boy” Burgin, 10-2 (2), has spent the last 8 weeks in Puerto Rico under trainer Raul “Chino” Rivas. “The new things I learned and did there helped bring my talent to another level physically and mentally. The feeling of fighting the main event in Philly is unbelievable. I have been sparring with Michael Perez and a few other guys from PR,” said Burgin.
His trainer Raul “Chino” Rivas had this to say “Anthony looks amazing like he’s fighting for a world title.”
In the opposite corner that night will be another Philly fighter in Avery Sparrow, 5-1 (3). “Camp has been the best ever. I feel the best I have ever felt in my whole career. We worked hard and smart,” said Sparrow. His trainer Greg Jackson had this to say, “Everyone knows what it is. Everyone is coming to see Anthony Burgin get his head chopped off. This is an execution!”
The semi-final will pit super welterweight Fred Jenkins, Jr., 10-3 (1), against returning visitor Roque Zapata, 2-1-3 (0), who in his last fight defeated Philly’s Isaiah Wise. “I saw him fight Isaiah Wise and it was a good fight. One thing I noticed he threw a lot of punches and Wise was still fighting,” said Jenkins, Jr. His father train had this to say “Fred looks superb. Whatever Zapata brings to the table Fred is ready to match it,” said Jenkins, Sr.
“I am not worried about coming to his backyard or being the underdog. In my MMA days and in boxing I’ve been fighting in the other guy’s back yard a lot and I love it,” said Zapata. His trainer Eric Zamora had this to say “he’s very focused and hungry for this fight. He’s put in enough hard work to have his hand raised on March 10th!”
On the undercard will feature two of the best Puerto Ricans from the area in separate bouts in Victor Padilla, 2-0 (2), of Berlin, NJ, and Joseph “Blessed Hands” Adorno, 2-0 (2), from Allentown, PA. Isaiah Wise, 3-1 will be back. Also returning from out of CT will be heavyweight Cassius Chaney, 8-0. Philly’s Marcel Rivers, 1-0 and Chris “Sandman” Thomas, 4-0, from Blackwood, NJ.
Completing the 10 undercard fights will be debuting Puerto Rican Crystian Peguero, of Philly and Basyzbek Baratov, 1-1-1, of KYR, and now Philly, Ernesto Almodovar debuting from Philly.
First fight will be at 7:30. Besides Peltz, BAM and Joe Hand Promotions along with Park Casino and Coors Light will handle the promotion.
On Saturday night Kings Promotion will have one of Philly’s knockout artists on top in Tyrone Brunson, 23-6-2 (22), facing Brandon Quarles, 18-3-1 (9), of Alexandria, VA. Philly’s David Gonzales, 8-1-2 (2), Tyrone Crawley, Jr., 6-0 (0), with Daquan Johnson, 2-0 (2), of Cherry Hill, NJ, will be taking on Philly’s Vincent Floyd, 1-2 (0). Carlos Rosario, 6-1 (3), of Pennsauken, NJ, Upper Darby’s Brandon Robinson, 1-1 (1), and debuting Philly boxer Terry Crowder as well as Philly’s Sam Orapeza will feature 8 fights.
The event will be at the SugarHouse Casino in Philly.